Human-rights activists fear Brazilian ranchers and farmers who turn poor workers into debt slaves could be made virtually immune from punishment because of a congressional amendment tacked onto a bill aimed at boosting the economy of Latin America's largest nation.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva faces a deadline today on whether to sign, veto or change the bill approved a month ago by Congress.
Lula's labor minister recommended a veto for, but Brazil's first working class president has not indicated how he will act.
Debt slavery is common in the Amazon region of Brazil, where poor workers are lured to remote areas to clear jungle land and work as hired hands by farmers and loggers who charge them exorbitant prices for food and transportation, turning them into virtual slaves.
The Roman Catholic Church's Land Pastoral group estimates some 25,000 Brazilians live in slave-like conditions.
The government has managed to some degree to keep the problem in check through Labor Ministry audits of the ranchers and loggers.
The amendment would strip auditors of their power to investigate relationships between employers and employees.
Auditors currently can immediately fine and discipline individuals and companies when irregularities are found, but passage of the bill would eliminate that power, leaving only judges to decide whether a relation between employer and employee constitutes slavery.
Since legal cases typically take years to work their way through Brazilian courts, punishing ranchers will be much harder if Lula approves the amendment as written, said Jorge Souto Maior, a labor judge and law professor at the University of Sao Paulo.
The Labor Ministry has been monitoring farmers and ranchers with a group it calls the Mobile Verification Task Force.
Founded in 1995, the group says it has freed more than 21,000 workers from debt slave conditions at more than 1,600 farms across Brazil.
"This will not continue to happen if the law is sanctioned," said Luis Claudio Mattos of Catholic Relief Services in Brazil.
"The auditors' verification won't be as effective because the farmers won't be punished immediately, and it will take forever for the judicial system to take action," he said.
The amendment to the bill -- which also unifies two federal tax departments and eliminates bureaucratic business barriers -- was actually requested by Brazilian media organizations seeking more flexibility in the way they use freelancers.
A new online voting system aimed at boosting turnout among the Philippines’ millions of overseas workers ahead of Monday’s mid-term elections has been marked by confusion and fears of disenfranchisement. Thousands of overseas Filipino workers have already cast their ballots in the race dominated by a bitter feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his impeached vice president, Sara Duterte. While official turnout figures are not yet publicly available, data from the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) showed that at least 134,000 of the 1.22 million registered overseas voters have signed up for the new online system, which opened on April 13. However,
EUROPEAN FUTURE? Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama says only he could secure EU membership, but challenges remain in dealing with corruption and a brain drain Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama seeks to win an unprecedented fourth term, pledging to finally take the country into the EU and turn it into a hot tourist destination with some help from the Trump family. The artist-turned-politician has been pitching Albania as a trendy coastal destination, which has helped to drive up tourism arrivals to a record 11 million last year. US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, also joined in the rush, pledging to invest US$1.4 billion to turn a largely deserted island into a luxurious getaway. Rama is expected to win another term after yesterday’s vote. The vote would
ALLIES: Calling Putin his ‘old friend,’ Xi said Beijing stood alongside Russia ‘in the face of the international counter-current of unilateralism and hegemonic bullying’ Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday was in Moscow for a state visit ahead of the Kremlin’s grand Victory Day celebrations, as Ukraine accused Russia’s army of launching air strikes just hours into a supposed truce. More than 20 foreign leaders were in Russia to attend a vast military parade today marking 80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, taking place three years into Russia’s offensive in Ukraine. Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and has marshaled the memory of Soviet victory against Nazi Germany to justify his campaign and rally society behind the offensive,
Myanmar’s junta chief met Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) for the first time since seizing power, state media reported yesterday, the highest-level meeting with a key ally for the internationally sanctioned military leader. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing led a military coup in 2021, overthrowing Myanmar’s brief experiment with democracy and plunging the nation into civil war. In the four years since, his armed forces have battled dozens of ethnic armed groups and rebel militias — some with close links to China — opposed to its rule. The conflict has seen Min Aung Hlaing draw condemnation from rights groups and pursued by the
RSS